Final Quantum Fantasy

by Skylark

Disclaimer/Authors Note: I do not own the characters from FF VII or Quantum Leap. They are property of Squaresoft and Belisarius Productions & MCA/Universal respectively. I don’t have permission to use any of them. Please don’t sue, I’m very poor, and have not a cent to my name. Ceilia is my character, and if you’d like to use her, just ask. You won’t be finding out much of her character in this story anyway, so if you did want to use her, I’d have to explain a bit. (Although you will be seeing a LOT of her in later stories, and she’ll be hanging around with our favorite Planetary Heroes. Heeh.) I’m not following the game script to a Mr. T (heeh), because it’s quite obvious that Sam isn’t going to behave like the leapee. Wow, what is it with all these short notes lately? Usually I go on and on and on and on and on… I’m worse than that damn rabbit!

Prologue

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator – and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Doctor Beckett finds himself Leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next Leap... will be the Leap home...

* * *

"Hold onto your drawers and don’t piss in ‘em!" Sam found himself calling out as he leapt into his next host. He could feel the wind rushing around him and hear it roaring in his ears. His eyes widened when he figured out what was going on. He was hanging on for dear life to the tail end of a crashing airplane!

Sam instinctively tightened his grip on the tail.

"Oo-oh, bo-oy!"

(Cue strange cross between the FF VII theme music and the Quantum Leap theme music.)

"Final Quantum Fantasy"

Written by Skylark

Started on August 18, 2000

Finished?

Sam coughed. And hacked. And wheezed. And coughed some more.

"Cid? Are you alright?"

Sam finally managed to stop coughing enough to glance at the spiky-headed young man who had posed the question and gasped out, "yeah, I’m fine." Well, at least I know my name.

The spiky-headed blonde exchanged a glance with a brunette and …

"This your pet?" Sam blurted out into the creature’s face.

To the others surprise, instead of ripping Sam to shreds, the fiery red beast sort of shrugged as best he could.

"I am not a pet, but it’s hard to explain what I am," he began, "the best I can tell you is that I am what you see. They call me Red XIII."

"You talk?"

"Why is that such a surprise to everyone? I mean, you talk, don’t you?"

"Yeah, but … but …"

"Don’t try to figure it out, Cid. Red can only be himself, nothing more," said the brunette, "by the way, I don’t think we were formally introduced. I guess we sort of forgot with all that’s happened. I’m Aeris, and this is Cloud." Aeris gestured to the spiky-headed young man then to the fiery red creature. "You already know Red."

"And I’m Cid," said Sam. Aeris giggled.

"We know that. You told us back in Rocket Town."

"Oh," Sam scratched at the back of his neck, "I guess I forgot."

The group sat silent for a moment, Sam trying to figure out where he was. The landscape didn’t appear familiar to him at all. They were all afloat on a tiny plane, in the middle of an ocean. Written on the wing, Sam could make out the name Tiny Bronco, even with Cloud obscuring a portion of it.

The Tiny Bronco had skimmed to a landing like a duck in the water … well, perhaps a little rougher than that, but similar. Sam and the three others who were with him were not harmed. They just got a little wet.

Noticing for the first time the weight in his hand, Sam glanced at the spear he was carrying. Oh, great! I hope I don’t have to use this! What kind of people are these?! They’ve all got weapons! Sam glanced at the large sword strapped across Cloud’s back and at the rod Aeris was carrying. Then his glance traveled to Red. And some are their own weapon.

Sam looked to his other hand. He was holding a cigarette. The ash on the end badly needed to be flicked off. Instead of doing so, Sam tossed the smoke into the water. His host’s body could go for a few days without nicotine. Sam didn’t smoke and wasn’t planning on starting.

Sam lowered himself onto his stomach, and studied his reflection in the water. Staring back at him was a gruff looking man. Perched on his forehead was a pair of flight goggles, a pack of cigarettes tucked in the strap. Bright blue eyes scowled at him, and Sam got the impression that even when this man smiled, he would still look the intimidating sight. His hair was blonde, but a more dirty blonde than Cloud’s spiky yellow locks. His hair was spiky also, but not as bad as Cloud’s. His, in fact, looked more like it had been styled by a cow, licked into position. His chin looked like it hadn’t seen a razor in a couple days, stubble decorating it. He was wearing a blue flight jacket, with a dark brown shirt underneath, a white scarf around his neck, baggy greenish-brown pants and brown boots.

Okay. This Cid guy is a pilot. Well, I guess it’s lucky that they won’t be expecting me to fly this plane anywhere. Even if it were repairable, I wouldn’t have the first clue as to how!

"Will it fly?"

Sam started at the question, and turned to face Red. He supposed the fiery creature had thought that he was attempting to repair the plane. Sam shook his head.

"Tiny Bronco’s grounded." Sam gazed out over the ocean. "Or more appropriately, the Tiny Bronco is now the Tiny Boat."

"So we can use it as a boat then? That is, if you don’t mind?" asked Cloud.

"Do whatever you want." I guess that means the Tiny Bronco belongs to Cid, or me, in this case.

"Ask if you can join them."

Sam jumped slightly at Al’s voice, and turned to give the hologram a dark glare.

"Don’t do that!" he exclaimed. Red stopped scratching his ear and looked up at Sam.

"What?" he asked.

"Sorry. I didn’t mean you. I was just thinking aloud, that’s all," said Sam, trying to cover up his outburst.

"You weren't talking to that man who has appeared behind you?"

Sam almost choked. Red could see Al.

"There’s no one behind me," Sam lied, motioning frantically for Al to leave, "you must be seeing things."

Taking the hint, Al hit the hand link a couple of times. The door to the Imaging Chamber hissed opened and he stepped out, the door whooshing shut behind him. Red cocked his head.

"Perhaps…" he answered slowly.

"Well, anyways," Sam leapt in, trying to change the subject, "just what are you tying to accomplish here, anyway?"

"We’re going after a man named Sephiroth. We’ll have to get Rufus of the Shinra someday, too," replied Cloud.

Ignoring his confusion, for he knew Al would explain it all to him later, Sam asked, "think I could come along and help?"

"Well, sure. But wouldn’t you rather go back to Rocket Town? What about your wife, Shera?"

"Wife? Don’t make me laugh! Just thinkin’ ‘bout marryin’ her gives me the chills. And I’ve given up on that town." That wasn’t what I meant to say…

Cloud shrugged. "Okay. How ‘bout it, everyone?"

Aeris looked up. "I’m all for it."

A strange look had crossed Red’s face ever since Al had shown up. He stood up and walked over to Sam. Stopping at Sam’s feet, Red started to sniff at his leg. Suddenly, he growled. Sam backed away as Red raised his tail in the air in a threatening manner and bared his long, sharp fangs.

"You smell different. You don’t smell the same as you did in Rocket Town. Why not?"

"Uh … umm … ahhh … perfume," replied Sam, saying the first thing that came to mind. Red stopped growling and sat down.

"Perfume?" he asked, perplexed.

"Uh, yeah. Perfume. You see, this morning, Shera spilled her perfume on me. It must have washed off when we crashed."

"You certainly didn’t smell sweet…"

"Shera’s perfume makes her smell like she just came home from working in a slaughter house." What on Earth?! There I go again, saying things I don’t mean to say. What’s going on here?

Sam ignored the strange looks the others gave him. An awkward silence descended on the group. Cloud was the first to break it.

"We should try to find the Temple of the Ancients. Cid, do you know where it is?"

Sam shook his head. "No clue. Maybe we can find a town over there," he pointed to the landmass that the Tiny Bronco was drifting towards, "and ask if they know."

Cloud shrugged. "Why not?"

The propellers on the Tiny Bronco were still functioning, so they used them like a motor on a boat and headed to land. Once there, they disembarked from the plane turned boat and began to walk. The ground was rocky and decorated in areas by dry grass. There were no towns or any signs of civilization save an old rope bridge strung across a deep valley. So it came as a bit of a surprise when a young, cheerful sounding female voice reached the group.

"Hey! Hey, wait up! Wait for me!"

A young ninja ran up to the group. She had shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, and a funny looking shield on her arm, the likes of which Sam had never seen before. She was carrying a large shuriken.

The group stopped to let the young girl catch up. Cloud turned to her.

"Yuffie. What do you want?"

"I know this place, and it gets pretty rough up ahead. My hometown is this way," replied Yuffie.

"Hey! You over there! Stop right there!"

Everyone wheeled in surprise as two Shinra soldiers ran over.

To be continued...

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